Q&A: The Commandment of Torah Study
The Commandment of Torah Study
Question
Hello Rabbi,
About two years ago I was at one of your lectures (which you also gave this past Hoshana Rabbah) on the commandment of Torah study, in which you argued from the passage in tractate Menachot that the obligation is to recite Shema morning and evening.
Several interesting philosophical ideas also came out of that conclusion, and I seem to remember that you even connected it to the Talmudic passage that speaks about "because they did not first recite the blessing over the Torah." I don't remember exactly what the connection between them was, and so I would be glad if you could write it out for me here, with as much detail as you can.
Thank you very much,
Answer
See the article by Rabbi Israel Salanter, who explains that Torah scholars did not first recite the blessing over the Torah because they saw learning as a means, and the rule is that one does not recite a blessing over means (an act that is not the end of the commandment itself).
Discussion on Answer
He explains it. Seeing the Torah as a means rather than as an end is destructive.
I'm not sure that's what I heard from you. But never mind. The question now is about what Rabbi Israel Salanter says: why, for that reason, was the land destroyed?